How To Channel Your Soul Into Art

Five gems on creativity by Peter Himmelman.

Not only is Peter Himmelman a fantastic writer and musician, he is someone who has thought deeply about the creative process and its roots in transcendence. We are fortunate to have him as a regular contributor and wanted to collate and highlight our favorite pieces for you.

Enjoy.

Silence and The Art Of Daydreaming

You can’t force yourself into a deeper aspect of yourself; you need to ease your way into it. You need to relax your way into it. You have no doubt seen for yourself that feelings of repose can’t be bought, stolen, or borrowed. The more sentience and self-awareness you possess, the easier it will be to travel to that never-quite-describable place. 

Why Embracing Ambiguity and Uncertainty is Good For Your Creativity

We love to be certain. And why shouldn’t we? We are comforted by following clear road maps, by going directly from point A to point B, and from having unambiguous answers at the end of every journey. But what happens when there are no clear answers? Well, aside from a certain amount of fear and frustration, there are lots of benefits, especially as it concerns a deeper relationship with our own creativity.

The Sensitive Antennae of the Persevering Artist

Beyond the technical skills, like the ability to play the piano or draw, the artist’s superpower is the capacity to feel acutely. It’s the emotional intake of life itself that comprises the building blocks of art. But here’s the paradox: to achieve any sort of success, whether commercial or personal, an artist must develop a knack for attenuating that emotionality. In other words, the same emotions that fuel the creative impulse are also the ones that cause an artist to become overly vulnerable to the opinions of others. 

A Chair and a Will to Act

Think back to something you’ve created; a piece of art, a business plan, a poem, a fantastic meal — or even a deep conversation with a friend or loved one. You’ve likely had a similarly joyful experience. Even now, there might be something you’ve been dreaming about bringing into reality, something that you have yet to take a single action towards fulfilling. You know from experience how good it feels to create. So, the question is, why do we so often avoid taking the first steps toward pursuing our creative goals?

Impermanent Things

One’s state of mind is as crucial to the success of a song as the rigid architecture that good songwriting—or any worthy creative endeavor—demands. Rather than being satisfied with learning the crucial technical components of songwriting, such as structure, melody, and chord progressions, a more important task for a person embarking on a creative career lies in constructing for him or herself a generous life—a way of moving through the world with an indomitable spirit of empathy.